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JOHN  A.  SEAVERNS 


jT; 


Webster  Family  Library  of  Veterinary  IWedlcine 
Cummings  School  of  Veterinary  Medicine  at 
Tufts  University 


TUFTS   UNIVERSITY   LIBRARIES 


^ 


3   9090  013  414  012 


AlSr  ADDRESS 


ON    THE 


Natural  History  and  Pathological  Osteology 


L 


OF 


THE  HORSE, 


DELIVERED    BEFORE 


THE  ANNUAL  MEETING 


Ooimecticiit  Board  of  Agriculture, 


AT   MIDDLETOWN,   JANUARY,    1870, 


By  N.  CRESSY,  M.  D. 


ii_ii_iXjst:e=l  ^^teid 


HARTFORD: 

CASE,  LOCKWOOD  &  BRAINARD,  PRINTERS. 

1870. 


AN  ADDRESS 


ON    THE 


Natural  History  and  Pathological  Osteology 


OF 


THE   HORSE, 

DELIVERED   BEFORE 

THE  ANNUAL  MEETING 

OF   THE 

Connecticut  Board  of  Agriculture, 

AT   MIDDLETOWN,  JANUARY,   1870, 
By  N.  CRESSY,  M.  D. 


IIjXjXJSTI=I..^TEID  . 


HARTFORD: 

CASE,  LOCKWOOD  &  BRAINARD,  PRINTERS. 

1870. 


^fo 


[Extracted  from  Procedings  of  Conn.  Ag.  Society,  1870.] 


The  Natural  History  and  Pathological  Osteology 


OP 


THE  HOESE. 


By  N.  Cressy,  M.  D. 
Lecture  delivered  January  14th,  1870. 

The  horse,  in  all  ages  of  the  world,  has  been  the  esteemed 
servant  of  man  both  in  war  and  in  peace.  And  to  the 
scientific  inquirer  it  is  also  an  object  of  interest.  For  this 
noble  creature  and  its  aUied  species,  not  only  afford  the 
veterinarian  an  opportunity  of  investigating  certain  rare  plie- 
nomena  of  disease  otherwise  unknown  in  the  history  of  the 
Healing  Art,  but  they  enable  the  naturalist  to  study  the  inti- 


4  BOARD  OF  AGRICULTURE. 

mate  relations  which  these  few  surviving  species  hold  to  their 
fossil  ancestors,  whose  remains  are  profusely  strewn  in  the 
diluvial  strata  of  the  earth. 

The  domestic  horse,  zoologically  speaking,  is  known  as  the 
Equus  cahalhts,  and  was  classed  by  Cuvier  with  the  other 
thick-skinned  and  non-ruminating  mammals  in  that  compre- 
hensive order  Pachydermata  ;  but  which  Professor  Owen  has 
very  justly  subdivided  on  account  of  the  three-fold  variety  in 
the  special  details  of  structure  thus  included,  and  has  placed 
the  horse  together  with  all  those  hoofed  animals  which  have 
an  odd  number  of  toes,  either  one  or  three,  in  his  well-chosen 
order  Perissodaclyla,  in  contradistinction  to  his  even-toed 
order,  Artiodaclyla^  to  which  our  cattle,  deer,  sheep,  and 
swine  belong. 

The  two  preceding  orders  will  be  found,  by  a  careful 
analysis,  to  constitute  a  natural  and  well-marked  anatomical 
division  of  all  the  hoofed  quadrupeds,  both  recent  and  fossil. 
In  view  of  which  fact,  naturalists  have  endeavored  to  trace 
the  ancestry  of  our  equine  and  bovine  races  back  to  the 
ancient  prototypes  of  these  two  orders,  which  flourished  ex- 
tensively during  an  earlier  epoch  of  creation. 

But  in  passing  we  would  observe  that  though  the  Gnu  or 
"  horned-horse"  of  Africa,  very  much  resembles  the  wild 
prairie  horse  in  its  general  bodily  conformation,  jQt  it  is  found, 
by  a  moment's  inspection,  to  have  a  divided  hoof  and  all  tlie 
characteristic  features  of  the  antelope  family,  to  which  it 
belongs. 

The  history  of  the  horse-family  is  veiled  in  remote  antiquity. 
Fossil  remains  of  several  extinct,  but  closely  allied  species, 
have  been  found  in  the  Tertiary  deposits  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic. 

There  is  a  fossil  skull  of  an  extinct  horse,  Equus  nomadicus^ 
in  the  British  Museum,  taken  by  Messrs.  Falconer  &  Cautley 
from  the  Miocene  formations  in  the  Sewalk  Mountains  of 
India,  associated  with  the  remains  of  gigantic  Pachyderms, 
Ruminants,  and  other  extinct  mammals,  showing  that  the 
horse  in  its  pcdeontological  lineage  antedates  the  lapse  of  his- 
toric time.     But  the  most  ancient  representative  of  the  fossil 


HORSES.  5 

liorso  was  undoubtedly  the  Equus  primigenius  of  Meyer,  and 
which  was  also  called  Hlppotlierium  gracile  by  Wagner.  It 
ranged  from  the  Himalayas  to  the  Alps,  and  existed  from  the 
Miocene  period,  geologically  speaking,  to  the  Diluvium,  or  the 
recent  formations.  The  limbs  of  a  fossil  pony,  if  such  we 
may  call  it,  were  discovered  in  the  upper  Tertiary  clay  of 
Nebraska,  at  Antelope  Station,  on  the  line  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad,  in  1868,  which  were  carefully  examined  and 
described  by  Prof.  0.  C.  Marsh,  of  New  Haven,  who  believed 
that  the  restored  skeleton  of  this  species  would  not  exceed 
two  and  a  half  feet  in  heiglit ;  and  therefore  very  appropriate- 
ly named  it  Equiis  imrvulus^'  This  is  the  seventeenth  species 
of  fossil  horse  now  known  to  have  been  indigenous  to  this 
continent.  Numerous  teeth  and  fragmentary  portions  of  the 
so-called  Uquus  fossilis,  wliicli  undoubtedly  included  several 
species  that  were  closely  allied  to  the  present  horse,  have  been 
discovered  in  the  Drift  in  various  parts  of  Europe  and 
America. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  geographical  distribution  of 
the  Equidae  in  a  former  period  of  the  earth's  history,  was 
very  extensive  in  both  hemispheres.  But  it  is  believed  by 
Professor  Owen,  Darwin,  and  other  distinguished  naturalists, 
that  this  family  had  been  entirely  blotted  out  of  tlie  Fauna  of 
our  part  of  the  globe  ere  the  fall  of  the  footstep  of  man  had 
been  heard.  According  to  this  view  the  horse  became  extinct 
in  North  America  cotemporary  with  the  Mammoth,  and  in 
Soutli  xVmerica  with  the  Megatherium.  For  it  is  alleged 
that  the  remains  of  the  primitive  horses  of  the  New  World 
lie  intermingled  in  the  same  geological  strata  with  these  huge 
quadrupeds,  and  no  intermediate  species  are  found  in  tlie 
later  formations,  thus  intimating  that  the  wild  liorses  of  to- 
day upon  our  pampas  and  prairies,  were  introduced  here  in 
the  state  of  domestication  by  the  Spanish  colonies  in  the  fif- 
teenth century.  While  on  the  other  hand  it  is  claimed  that 
the  recent  discoveries  in  Paleontology  seem  to  indicate  that 

^American  Journal  of  Science  and  Arts,  vol.  XL VI,  Xovember,  1868. 
See  Owen's  Paleontology,  and  his  History  of  the  British   Fossil   Mammalia, 
and  also  the  article  Equidai  in  Knight's  Cyelopadia  of  Natural  History. 


BOARD   OP    AGRICULTURE. 


the  equine  race  lias  been  continuous  upon  the  continent  from 
the  earliest  fossil  representatives  of  this  type  of  animals  to 
those  of  the  present  day.  But  further  evidence  will  be  re- 
quired in  order  to  decide  such  an  important  question.  Yet 
we  can  see  no  valid  reason  why  this  race  may  not  have  con- 
tinued here  in  the  same  unbroken  series  as  it  appears  to  have 
done  in  the  Old  World. 

But  naturalists  are  agreed  that  there  is  no  aboriginal  or 
truly  wild  breed  of  horses  now  known  to  exist  in  any  part  of 
the  globe ;  and  this  is  also  corroborated  by  the  observations 
of  Oriental  travelers,  who  believe  that  the  wild  horses  of  the 
East  were  once  domesticated  animals. 

Hence  we  see  that  the  origin  of  the  domestic  horse  is  veiled 
in  great  obscurity,  and  thus  becomes  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing problems  of  Natural  History.  Thomas  Bell,  in  his  His- 
tory of  the  British  Quadrupeds,  claims  that  the  Egyptians 
were  probably  the  first  to  break  the  proud  spirit  of  this  noble- 
animal,  and  reduce  it  to  obedience  and  servitude.  While 
others  believe  that  the  primitive  horse  was  first  domesticated 
in  Asia. 

The  horse,  in  its  special  details  of  structure,  reverts  to  that 
primitive  type  of  three-toed  quadrupeds  which  appeared  upon 

rijrure  1. 


the  earth  among  the  earliest  of  the  Tertiary  mammals,  and 
which  have,  therefore,  been  very  fitly  characterised  as  the 
Paleotherna.  or   ancient  wild  beasts.     These  animals  walked 


This  plate  is  copied  from  Owen's  Compai*ative  Anatomy. 
The  feet  of  the  Horse,  Ilipparion  and  Pahoptcrium. 


HORSES.  7 

upon  their  three  toes,  which  correspond  to  the  second,  third, 
and  fourth  rows  in  the  pentadactyle,  or  five  fingered  hand, 
as  seen  at  Fig.  1  a.  But  these  Paleotheres  eventually  faded 
away  (at  the  close  of  the  Eocene  period),  and  were  succeeded 
(in  the  Miocene)  by  another  tri-dactylous  quadruped,  which, 
on  account  of  its  general  resemblance  to  the  horse,  as  shown 
by  its  fossil  bones,  has  been  called  the  liipparion.  And, 
although  this  horse-like  animal  had  three  toes  upon  each  foot, 
the  same  as  its  predecessors,  yet  upon  the  hard  ground  it 
really  walked  upon  one,  the  same  as  the  horse  does,  inasmuch 
as  the  outer  toes  had  become  considerably  shortened,  and  re- 
duced in  size,  as  is  seen  at  Fig.  1  b. 

The  dentition,  as  well  as  the  close  resemblance  of  the  feet, 
point  to  a  transitional  position,  which  the  hipparion  must  have 
occupied  in  the  "  survival  of  the  fittest "  between  the  paleo- 
theres and  the  modern  horse.  And,  believing  that  this  same 
process  of  "  derivative"  m6dification  may  have  been  carried 
still  further,  we  should  ultimately  expect  to  find  a  creature  in 
which  those  outer  toes  were  wholly  wanting  ;  and  this  is 
really  the  case  in  all  the  equine  species.  Fig.  1  c.  "  Thus 
the  succession  in  time,"  says  Professor  Owen,*  "  accords 
with  the  gradational  modifications  by  which  paleotherium  is 
linked  on  to  equus." 

Hence  we  see  that  the  so-called  "  splint-bones,"  in  the 
limbs  of  the  horse  are  simply  the  rudiments  of  those  lateral 
toes  in  the  tridactyle  feet  of  their  ancient  predecessors. 
But  occasionally  we  find  a  horse  with  these  supplementary 
ancestral  hoofs.  "  In  one  of  the  latest  examples,"  says  Pro- 
fessor Owen,f  "  the  inner  splint-bone,  answering  to  the 
second  metacarpal  of  the  pentadactyle  foot,  supported  pha- 
langers  and  a  terminal  hoof,  in  position  and  proportion  to  the 
middle  hoof,  resembling  the  corresponding  one  in  hipparionJ^ 

Such  examples  of  tridactyle  feet  in  the  horse,  though 
usually  regarded  as  "  monsters,"  clearly  illustrate  the  natu- 
ral law  of  hereditary  descent. 

There  is  a  great  variety  in  the  form  of  the  limbs,  or  ambu- 

*  See  his  closing  chapter  on  the  Anatomy  of  Vertebrates,  vol.  iii. 

tin  his  Comparative  Anatomy  and  Physiology  of  Vertebrate  Animals,l  vo.  iii, 


8  BOARD    OF   AGRICULTURE. 

latoiy  appendages  of  vertebrate  animals.  In  the  fm  of  the 
fish,  which  is  analagous  to  the  human  arm,  there  is  a  multi- 
plicity of  rays,  but  higher  in  the  series  the  number  is  reduced 
to  five  phalangial  rows,  of  which  the  monodactyle  foot  of  the 
horse  is  the  lowest  expression,  and  answers  to  the  middle 
finger  of  the  human  hand. 

The  law  by  which  these  toes  are  lost  is  interesting  to  us, 
as  well  marked  examples  of  such  modifications  are  found  in 
the  domestic  animals.  The  first  to  disappear  is  the  thumb, 
then  we  have  a  four-toed  foot  like  the  hog  and  the  deer. 
Next,  the  fifth  row,  or  little  finger  is  lost,  and  this  leaves  the 
tridactyle  foot,  which  we  have  already  considered. 

Having  thus  briefly  pointed  out  a  few  facts  concerning  the 
natural  history  of  the  horse,  let  us  now  turn  our  attention  to 
another  department  of  our  subject,  which,  I  trust,  will  be  far 
more  interesting  to  those  who  have  the  guardianship  of  this 
noble  animal.  But  as  it  is  not  bur  mission  on  this  occasion 
to  treat  of  the  general  maladies  of  the  equine  system  we  will 
limit  our  inquiries  to  the  pathological,  or  diseased  conditions 
of  the  bones,  and  of  some  of  the  adjacent  tissues. 

Comparative  anatomists  have  clearly  shown  that  the  entire 
series  of  vertebrate  animals,  including  man,  are  built  upon 
the  same  general  plan  of  structure.  The  chemist  has  assured 
us  that  the  bones  of  all  animals  are  composed  of  the  same 
proximate  principles,  or  ingredients,  though  the  relative  quan- 
tities of  these  several  principles  vary  considerably  in  the  dif- 
ferent types,  orders,  and  species.  And  the  physiologist  has 
conclusively  proved  by  his  microscopic  examinations  that  the 
blood  of  fishes,  reptiles,  birds,  and  mammals,  contains  the 
sanle  anatomical  granules  and  cells  as  is  found  in  the  blood 
of  man.  Now,  in  view  of  all  these  facts,  why  may  we  not 
suppose  that  the  domestic  animals  are  afflicted  with  the  same 
diseases  as  we  are,  differing  only  in  degree  ? 

Upon  this  basis  we  shall  inquire  into  the  pathological  oste- 
ology of  the  horse,  though  we  do  not  expect  to  find  all  those 
loathsome  diseases  of  the  bones  in  the  equine  system  which 
so  frequently  visit  the  frail  body  of  mortal  man. 

The  diseases  of  the  bones  maybe  divided  into  three  classes. 
First,  we  will  consider  those  diseased  conditions  which  affect 


HORSES.  .  -' 

the  nutrition  of  the  bones,  and  thus  compromise  the  utility  of 
the  part.  A  healthy  bone  is  composed  of  organic  and  inor- 
ganic matter,  which  is  united  in  certain  dciinite  proportions 
though  they  relatively  vary  with  age.  In  certain  diseased 
conditions  of  the  sysLem  there  is  a  want  of  tlie  earthy  salts, 
phosphate  and  carbonate  of  lime,  in  the  blood,  and  hence  the 
bones  are  deprived  of  their  solidity,  and  soon  become  dis- 
torted, as  is  seen  in  Rickets.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  there 
may  be  a  surplus  quantity  of  this  earthy  matter  deposited  in 
the  bones,  and  thus  render  them  extremely  brittle,  like  the 
fragility  of  old  ngc.  Or  an  undue  absorption  of  these  earthy 
salts  may  take  place,  and  a  softened  bone  be  the  result.  Tliis 
disease  is  known  as  "  moUities  osseum,'^  and  though  Of  rare 
occurrence  either  in  the  Inunan  or  equine  system,  yet  it  is  fre- 
quently seen  in  our  New  England  cows  in  the  form  of  "  cripple 
ail,"  especially  in  our  hill  farms,  where  the  soluble  phos- 
phates have  become  nearly  exhausted  from  the  soil.  The 
desire  which  cows  usually  manifest  in  such  localities  to  chew 
bones  is  a  clear  index  to  the  kind  o^  fertilizers  which  those 
lands  most  need.  The  free  use  of  ground  bone  on  such  farms 
will  effectually  cure  this  Osleomania,  and  will  also  prove  a 
potent  lemedy  when  mixed  with  the  feed  to  restore  this  fresh 
and  crippled  condition  of  our  milch  cows. 

Again,  both  the  organic  and  inorganic  elements  may  become 
partially  absorbed,  and  tlius  constitute  a  case  of  atrophy^  or 
perisliing  of  the  bone.  But  this  disease  is  usually  local  in 
cliaracter. 

The  second  class  of  bone  diseases  includes  those  which  in- 
volve the  tissue  in  a  simple  or  scrofulous  inflammation.  But 
we  will  only  notice  under  tiiis  division  those  two  very  com- 
mon affections  which  are  known  to  pathologists  as  Necrosis 
and  Caries.  The  first  of  these,  as  the  word  implies,  is  the 
death  of  a  bone  or  any  part  of  it,  attended  by  a  regenerative 
process,  established  at  the  time  coeval  with  the  inflammation 
or  injury  which  deprives  it  of  vitality.  In  this  respect  it  is  a 
singular  disease,  and  has  nothing  analagous  to  it  in  the  aflec- 
tions  of  the  soft  parts.  V/liile  Caries  in  its  degenerative  pro- 
cess is  very  similar  to  the  ulceration  of  the  muscular  tissues. 


lO  •  BOARD    OF    A(mi CULTURE. 

In  Necrosis  a  portion  of  bone  dies,  which  is  called  a  sequestrum^ 
and  is  snrrounded  by  livhig  or  germinal  matter  that  will  sup- 
ply the  place  of  this  diseased  portion  when  it  shall  have  been 
removed  by  carious  ulceration  or  by  a  surgical  operation. 
Fortunately  necrosis  is  a  rare  disease  in  tlie  equine  system, 
though  very  common,  as  we  have  before  observed,  in  man.  It 
presents  a  solitary  example  of  an  effort  on  the  part  of  nature 
to  counteract  or  provide  against  the  ravages  of  disease.  In 
this  respect  it  becomes  a  very  interesting  subject  of  inquiry. 

Exostosis  is  the  principal  disease  in  tlie  third  class  that  we 
shall  attempt  to  describe  on  this  occasion.  And  of  all  the 
organic  maladies  of  the  horse,  this  is,  by  far,  the  most  com- 
mon and  the  one,  in  view  of  cure,  tlie  most  dreaded  by  the 
veterinarian.  In  its  origin  it  is  eitlier  acute  or  hereditary, 
and  in  both  cases  may  be  transmitted  from  generation  to  gen- 
eration with  increasing  severity,  and  thus  ultimately  ruin  the 
entire  family  stock. 

By  the  term  Exostosis  we  mean  an  extra  bony  growth, -or 
tumor,  which  necessarily  involves  the  periosteum  or  the  cover- 
ing of  the  bone.  In  this  respect  we  shall  radically  diifer  from 
the  views  of  Dr.  Porter,  who  claims  (in  his  article  on  the 
pathological  conditions  of  bone,  in  the  Cyclopaedia  of  Anatomy 
and  Physiology)  that  the  periosteum  is  not  affected  in  this 
disease,  but  we  will  not  stop  to  discuss  the  matter  here,  for 
an  appeal  to  the  facts  concerning  its  genesis  will  satisfy  even 
the  doubting  mind  of  every  earnest  inquirer.  In  a  case  of 
acute  exostosis,  or  where  it  is  primarily  developed  without 
any  hereditary  predisposition  on  the  part  of  the  immediate 
parentage ;  this  disease  usually  occurs  as  the  result  of  an  in- 
jury, either  from  a  blow  or  a  strain.  An  inflammation  follows 
and  an  extra  quantity  of  blood,  laden  with  salts  of  lime,  is 
brought  to  the  part,  and  thus  the  periosteum  and  the  surround- 
ing tissues  is  thoroughly  congested.  Eventually  the  phos- 
pliate  and  car'uonate  of  lime  becomes  deposited  within  the 
periosteum  at  the  seat  of  injury,  and  a  hard,  unyielding, 
bony  tumor  is  the  inevitable  result.  In  fact,  ringbone^  splint, 
and  spavin  are  only  different  names  of  the  result  of  this  same 
morbid  process  of  bony  growth.     All  of  these  affections  may 


HORSES. 


11 


Fifrurc  2. 


be  developed  from  similar  exciting  causes  or  from  an  inherited 
constitutionality. 

Every  bone  in  the  normal  condition  of  nutrition  grows 
large  by  the  deposition  of  new  material  upon  its  external  sur- 
face  through   the   instrumentality  of  the  periosteum.     And 

any  agency  which  will  increase  the 
flow  of  blood  to  that  part  and  thus 
unduly  excite  the  action  of  this  mem- 
brane, will  cause  this  excessive  and 
morbid  production  of  bone.  But 
there  is  evidently  a  certain  peculiar- 
ity in  the  general  nutrition  of  the 
body,  favorable  to  the  production  of 
this  disease ;  for  it  is  often  seen, 
even  fearfully  developed,  in  the  colt 
at  an  early  age,  where  no  external 
or  exciting  cause  could  have  played 
its  part.  Such  a  condition  of  the 
system  might  well  be  termed,  in  the 
language  of  pathology,  an  exosfosi- 
cat  diathesis. 

Though  every  bone  in  the  skeletal 
frame-work  of  the  horse  is  liable  to 
an  attack  of  exostosis,  yet  the  joints 
are   the  most   frequently   the   seat 


"Chest  Founder." 

of    this   disease.      In 
usually    involves   the 


rheumatism,   or    ''  founder. 


which 
periosteum  of  the  bones  of  the 
chest,  you  will  occasionally  find,  upon  post-mortem  ex- 
amination, that  the  lower  end  of  the  ribs  and  their  appendages 
are  affected  with  this  same  malady.  At  Figure  2  will  be  seen 
a  case  of  ''chest-founder,"  so  called,  in  which  the  first  and 
second  ribs  of  the  right  side  are  firmly  grown  together,  and 
are  attached  by  a  bony  union  to  the  first  rib  of  the  opposite 
side.  This  specimen  was  taken  from  a  horse  thirty  years  of 
age,  which  was  noted  for  its  general  usefulness,  yet  we  imagine 
that  this  creature  must  have  suffered  in  its  respiratory  func- 
tions, inasmuch  as  the  anterior  part  of  the  thorax,  or  chest, 
was  a  solid  bone  hoop.     May  not  this  form  of  the  disease  ac- 


12 


BOARD    OF    AGRICULTURE. 


count  for  many  cases  of  "heaves,"  "short-breath,"  &c.  ? 
Such  a  case  would  not  be  amenable  to  any  treatment,  unless 
taken  in  hand  early  and  with  a  clear  conception  of  the  ap- 
proaching malady. 

Ringhone  derives  its  name  from  the  peculiar  form  which 
this  morbid  growth  of  bone  assumes  when  it  attacks  the  pas- 
tern joint ;  a  well  marked  example  of  which  will  be   seen  in 

iMffure  3. 


Ringbone. 

the  plate  at  Figure  3.  The  incidental  causes  of  ringbone  are 
very  numerous.  Almost  any  injury  received  upon  the  pastern 
bone  may  give  rise  to  a  more  or  less  aggravated  form  of  this 
disease,  if  not  promptly  attended  to,  with  perfect  rest  secured 
for  the  animal.     Such  cases  should  be  freely  treated  with 

Figure  3. — Ringbone;  a,  upi?er  pastern;  h,  lower  pastern;  c, coffin  bone. 


HORSES.  13 

quieting  and  cooling  lotions,  in  view  of  arresting  the  conges- 
tion or  extra  flow  of  blood  to  the  part,  that  inevitably  fol- 
lows, as  the  result  of  injury,  and  which  causes  the  swelling, 
heat,  and  }3ain  so  grievous  to  be  borne  by  the  poor  afflicted 
animal.  And  as  a  remedy  to  alleviate  the  suffering  and  con- 
trol the  progress  of  the  disease,  I  would  earnestly  recommend 
a  preparation  of  Colorless  Iodine  Liniment  that  I  have  used 
for  several  years  with  marked  success  in  human  and  veteri- 
nary practice.  Cases  of  hereditary  ringbone  that  appear 
early  in  a  colt  need  no  treatment,  for  their  only  cure  consists 
in  hastening  the  anchylosis  of  the  joint,  which,  of  course, 
forever  obliterates  the  freedom  of  motion  there,  by  soldering 
the  two  articulating  bones  together  in  firm  osseous  union. 
Even  with  such  a  cure  the  creature  ceases  to  limp,  because  tlie 
impaired  motion  of  the  joint  that  caused  such  excruciating 
pain  in  walking  has  been  destroyed.  And  though  a  horse 
with  such  an  impediment  would  readily  stumble,  and  thus  be 
worthless  for  the  turf,  yet  with  careful  usage  upon  light  draft 
it  may  be  serviceable  for  many  years. 

Percival  divides  the  causes  of  ringbone  into  three  classes, 
as  follows,  "hereditary,  structural,  and  incidental";  the  first 
and  last  of  which  we  have  already  noticed,  and  the  second  we 
will  now  consider.  Though  the  feet  and  limbs  of  all  the 
equine  family  contain  the  same  number  of  muscles  and  bones, 
yet  the  form  and  arrangement  of  these  parts  are  not  always 
the  same  in  all  the  various*  breeds.  In  the  race-horse  the 
pastern  bones  stand  quite  obliquely,  as  is  seen  in  the  Eclipse 
at  Figure  4,  in  order  that  the  foot  will  rebound  from  the  turf 
with  an  elastic  spring  when  vieing  for  the  goal.  Such  con- 
structed feet  are  not  commonly  the  seat  of  ringbone,  inas- 
much as  the  weight  of  the  body  is  not  directly  felt  upon  the 
coffin-bones.  But  on  the  other  hand,  when  the  pasterns  are 
nearly  erect,  the  heft  of  the  body  in  the  act  of  trotting,  falls 
as  a  dead  weight  upon  the  bones  of  the  feet,  and  thus  a  con- 
stant irritation  is  kept  up  in  the  periosteum  of  the  part,  until 
a  ringbone  is  the  result.  Hoises  with  such  formed  feet  should 
be  carefullij  used,  and  then,  never  upon  the  pavements.  Such 
examples  illustrate  that  hereditary  predisposition  to  ringbone, 


14  BOARD   OP    AGRICULTURE. 

splint,  and  spavin,  which  should  ever  be  avoided  in  choosing 
your  breeding  stock. 

That  disease  which  is  known  as  '^  splint''''  is  of  very  com- 
mon occurrence,  and  yet  it  is  not  grave  in  its  consequences 
when  not  complicated  by  other  diseases.     It  is  very  simple  in 

Fig.  4. 


"Eclipse. 

its  nature,  origin,  and  treatment;  and  consists  in  the  grow- 
ing of  the  splint-bone  on  to  the  cannon-bone  by  this  same 
morbid  process  of  exostosis,  which  is  usually  the  result  of  an 
external  injury. 

The  hind  and  forward  limbs  are  alike  subject  to  this  dis- 
ease. 

"  Splint "  seldom  occasions  much  lameness,  except  in  its 
primary  stage,  when  the  cushion  of  fibro-cartilage  that  is  in- 
terposed between  the  splint  and  cannon-bones  becomes  in- 
volved in  an  ossific  inflammation.  But  when  these  parts 
are  firmly  united  in  bony  union,  no  further  pain  or  lameness 
will  be  experienced  by  the  creature.  At  this  stage  of  the 
disease  treatment  of  course  is  useless  ;  but  in  the  commence- 
ment give  the  horse  rest  and  apply  cooling  lotions  to  allay 
the  inflammation. 

In  a  case  of  long  standing,  and  even  in  one  having  a  well- 

*Photographed  from  the  plate  in  Gamgee  &  Law's  Veterinary  Anatomy 


HORSES.  15 

marked  tumor,  the  pain  and  lameness  may  be  relieved  by  the 
moderate  application  of  the  tincture  of  cantharides.  But  some 
cases  will  not  recover  until  the  Blister  has  been  applied, 
when  that  intervening  cartilage  will  be  converted  into  bone  ; 
then  the  cure  is  done. 

When  exostosis  attacks  the  tarsus  or  instep  just  below  tlie 
hock-joint,  it  is  called  spavin.  The  first  symptoms  in  this 
form  of  the  disease  are  not  usually  recognized  in  their  true 
light,  and  the  horse  is  urged  on  in  its  daily  toil  until  tlie  pain 
becomes  so  excruciating  that  the  poor  creature  can  no  longer 
endure  such  suffering.  In  a  majority  of  cases  this  disease 
occurs  from  hereditary  transmission.  It  is  more  frequent 
than  ringbone,  inasmuch  as  its  predisposition  is  more  easily 
awakened  by  an  exciting  cause.  » 

The  six  bones  of  the  tarsus  are  separated  from  each  other 
by  a  layer  of  inter-articulating  cartilage,  and  the  undue  pres- 
sure which  is  brought  to  bear  upon  tliis  part  of  the  limb  when 
the  horse  is  heavily  laden  upon  the  ascending  pavement, 
causes  more  or  less  irritation,  and  tlius  congestion  and  infiam- 
niation  ensues. 

The  first  two  tarsal  bones  tliat  grow  together  in  this  disease 
are  those  which  anatomists  have  called  the  scaphoid  and  the  en- 
toeuniforyn.  In  fact  it  is  rare  to  fiiid  an  old  dray-horse  in  which 
these  bones  are  not  consolidated  in  one,  even  when  there  is 
no  sign  of  disease  among  the  otlier  tarsal  bones.  But  if  the 
disease  is  not  arrested  here,  either  by  a  resolution  of  Nature 
or  by  treatment,  it  usually  involves  the  adjoining  parts  in  the 
same  inflammation,  and  thus  ultimately  anchylose  the  entire 
tarsus,  together  with  two  splints  and  the  cannon-bone,  in  firm 
and  indissoluble  union.  Such  a  case  is  beyond  the  help  of 
the  Healing  Art,  and  any  attempt  to  ''  cure''  will  exhibit  the 
ignorance  or  deception  of  its  vain  pretender. 

The  general  plan  of  treatment  for  Spavin  is  the  same  as 
for  Ringbone  and  other  lorms  of  exostosis.  In  the  early  stage 
of  the  disease  is  your  onlij  hope  of  cure.  But  when  the  dis- 
ease has  advanced  to  that  degree  where  new  bone  begins  to 
be  formed  within  tlie  cartilage  and  periosteum,  it  is  hard  to 
be  controlled  ;   even  then  it  may  l)e  partially  arrested  in  its 


10  BOAJM)    OF    AGRICULTURE. 

progress  by  the  free  use  of  iodine  and  coiinter-iiTitants,  siicli 
as  the  different  preparations  of  Spanish  Flies. 

Blistering  is  a  potent  agent  in  judicious  hands,  but  it  must 
not  be  used  indiscriminately  ;  for  many  of  its  supposed  cures 
are  nothing  but  an  anchylosis  of  the  joint,  as  was  seen  in  the 
case  of  the  "  cured  "  Ringbone,  Figure  4. 

The  old  adage  that  "  an  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  more 
than  a  pound  of  cure,''  is  constantly  verified  in  stock  raising. 
And  here  let  me  impres?  upon  your  minds  that  the  only  way 
to  ameliorate  this  diseased  condition  of  the  horse  is  to  breed 
from  pure  blooded  animals,  and  occasionally  interchange  with 
foreign  stock. 

Whenever  it  is  your  unhappy  lot  to  have  one  of  these  poor 
ai/liioted  creatures,  treat  it  with  kind  and  humane  care.  And 
be  not  imposed  upon  by  the  pretending,"  Horse  Doctor,"  who 
perchance  may  happen  at  your  door,  and  earnestly  assure  you 
that  by  the  extracting  of  a  certain  "  bladder  "  from  the  hor.'^e's 
foot  the  Ringbone  will  bo  forever  cured.  Believe  it  not,  for 
it  is  a  baseless  imposition. 

Neitlicr  listen  to  him  who  talks  of  a  "  leakage  of  the  johit,' 
and  attempt  to  cure  accordingly,  for  such  assertions  have  no 
foundation  whatever. * 

The  nature,  cause,  and  general  treatment  of  all  these  affec- 
tions have  now  been  briefly  indicated  ;  and  henceforth  it  re- 
mains for  you  to  imbibe  the  useful  and  the  good  and  apply  it 
to  practice. 


Webster  Family  Library  of  Veterinary  Medicine 
Cummings  School  of  Veterinary  Medicine  at 
Tufts  University 
200  Westboro  Road 


